A MYANMAR junta court is expected to deliver verdicts on ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in several delayed cases today, the latest in a slew of judgments that may see her jailed for decades.

The Nobel laureate has been detained since February 1, when her government was forced out in an early morning coup, ending the short-lived experiment with democracy in Myanmar.

The generals’ power grab triggered widespread dissent, which security forces sought to quell with bloody crackdowns and mass detentions in which more than 1,400 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group.

Suu Kyi, 76, is facing a catalogue of accusations, and is set to hear the verdicts for allegedly importing and possessing walkie-talkies illegally, and for breaking coronavirus rules.

The walkie-talkie charges stem from when soldiers raided her house on the day of the coup, allegedly discovering the contraband equipment.

But under cross-examination in court hearings, raiding party members admitted they did not possess a warrant for the raid, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Verdicts for these cases have been repeatedly delayed.

If found guilty today, Suu Kyi faces a maximum of six years’ prison.

It will add to penalties given to her by the court last month, when she was jailed for four years for incitement and breaching coronavirus rules while campaigning.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cut the sentence to two years and said she can serve her term under house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.

‘Fear tactic’

December’s ruling drew international condemnation, and the Myanmar public reverted to old protesting tactics of banging pots and pans in a show of anger.

Human Rights Watch researcher Manny Maung said another conviction will deepen nationwide discontent.

“The announcement of her last conviction resulted in one of the highest days of social media interactions from inside Myanmar, and deeply angered the public,” she told AFP.

“The military is calculating this (the cases) as a fear tactic, but it serves only to direct more anger from the public.”

Journalists have been barred from attending hearings, and Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been muzzled from speaking to the media.

Under a previous junta regime, the ousted leader spent long spells of house arrest in her family mansion in Yangon – the largest city in Myanmar.

Today, she is confined to an undisclosed location in the capital, with her link to the outside world limited to brief pre-trial meetings with her lawyers.

Besides cases today, she is also facing multiple counts of corruption – each of which is punishable by 15 years’ jail – and of violating the official secrets act.

In November, she and 15 other officials, including president Win Myint, were also charged with alleged electoral fraud during the elections in 2020.

Her National League for Democracy party swept the polls in a landslide, trouncing a military-aligned party by a wider margin than the previous elections in 2015.

Since the coup, many of her political allies have been arrested, with one chief minister sentenced to 75 years’ jail, while others are in hiding. – AFP, January 10, 2022.